Britain in slow lane of two-speed Europe

Britain in slow lane of two-speed Europe

Europe is divided between those who see their economy as “strong”, and those who do not, with Britain firmly in the latter camp.
A new global poll released today by Ipsos MORI finds Germans are around 5 times more positive about their economy than we Britons are about ours.
One in eight Britons (13%) believe the economy is in good shape according to the 24-country global poll.
In contrast, Germans and Swedes believe their economy to be in good shape (63% and 57% respectively).
Alongside Britain in the slow lane, with even gloomier outlooks, are the French (7% say their economy is good), the Hungarians (5%), Italians (5%) and Spanish (2%).
Meanwhile, in the United States, there are real signs of “green shoots”. Three in ten (31%) are positive about the state of their economy, increasing for the third consecutive month. A year ago this figure stood at 21%, and in November 2008, it was just 11%
What is clear about these findings is just how low consumer confidence is in Europe, five years after the crash.
Although not yet back to pre 2008 levels, economic confidence has steadily recovered in most parts of the world over the last few years. In Europe, just 21% say their economy is in good shape, the lowest figure yet recorded by Ipsos. Furthermore, just 9% of Europeans expect to see an improvement over the next 6 months, down from 19% in March 2010.
By contrast, Asia Pacific and Latin America both score 42% rating their economy as “good”, North America 49%, Middle East/Africa 50% and the BRIC countries 53%.

“When we look at economic confidence, the big divide is not between Britain and the rest of Europe. It is between Germany and Sweden, where consumers are broadly positive, and the rest of the continent - where consumers most certainly are not. At a time when confidence is recovering in other parts of the world, it’s becoming even harder to find in most European countries”

Ipsos Global @dvisor is a monthly online survey conducted by Ipsos via the Ipsos Online Panel system in 24 countries around the world.
For the results of the survey presented herein, an international sample of 18,008 adults age 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed. Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately 500+.
The survey was conducted between 4th and 18th December, 2012.